According to documents obtained by NPR, they were paying full price for such things as inflatablerescueboats, and most of the purchases were made outside the normal bidding process.
City officials, for example, want to replace metal boats used by NYPD search-and-rescue teams with inflatable ones, after first-responders were forced to dodge downed power lines as they searched for New Yorkers stranded in floodwaters last fall.